SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- The love of basketball is a connector among No. 10 Oregon's football players, but in the locker room of the NBA's Houston Rockets it is the Ducks that are a link between Aaron Brooks, Terrence Jones and Chandler Parsons.

Though Brooks is the only Rocket to have actually attended Oregon, from 2003-07, Jones is the former Jefferson High Star from Portland and Parsons watched UO's rout of Tennessee in person in the fall.

None knew that the Ducks were actually in the house on Christmas Day in San Antonio's AT&T Center to watch the Rockets' beat the Spurs, as part of an Alamo Bowl night out. That didn't stop the praise from going both ways afterward.

In the stands, senior wide receiver Josh Huff and freshman linebacker Torrodney Prevot -- Houston natives and Rockets fans -- were ready, with Prevot tweeting he, "Finally get to see my @HoustonRockets play again!!" After the victory Huff tweeted, "Rockets got the DUBB as expected #RedNation." Those Ducks were just a few who have deep NBA ties, with center Hroniss Grasu wearing his Los Angeles Lakers T-shirt to the game and receiver Keanon Lowe proudly donning his Trail Blazers beanie.

Downstairs a few levels from Oregon's upper-deck seats, it was the Ducks who were on players' minds.

"I've been liking the team even in college," said Jones, who played at Kentucky for two seasons. "When they played in the national championship I still rooted for them even though (Auburn) it was an SEC team. They're the home team, I'm always rooting for them.

"We don't have an NFL team so it's just that's one of the most exciting things is watching Duck football and knowing players that I've played against before, from knowing families like Keanon Lowe. It's just great to see guys from your home city. I always see his family, his family knows my family."

Brooks spends a week each year in Eugene playing against current Duck basketball players and often trying to line up the week with a football game. Earlier this fall he and former UO teammates Bryce Taylor and Maarty Leunen went together to a game (he also added he will hold a youth basketball camp this upcoming summer after a one-year hiatus). Because he follows the Ducks closely, he admitted the end of Oregon's four-year streak in BCS bowls was a letdown.

"But what is it, five or four years in a row?" Brooks asked. "That's a hell of a run. I'm sure they'll get it back on track. I'm glad Mariota's coming back."

Neither Brooks nor Jones said they knew Parsons had seen the Tennessee game -- sitting in Autzen Stadium's west end zone section -- until after-the-fact, however. They didn't recruit him to the flock, but they're glad to have him.